May 17 Monday: BP Begins Siphoning Oil From Leak; Iran Strikes Deal to Ship Uranium BP took a significant step forward Sunday in the effort to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, connecting a mile-long tube from a ship to the damaged pipeline some 5,000 feet below water. Speaking on… Continue reading
May 17 Watch News Wrap: General Motors Back in the Black Following Bankruptcy In other news Monday, General Motors posted its first quarterly profit in nearly three years, thanks to strong sales of new models and expense cuts from its bankruptcy. And in Thailand, resistance leaders and security forces remain in a standoff… Continue watching
May 14 Newshour Connect: Economic Impacts of the Oil Spill on the Gulf Coast By Hari Sreenivasan Beyond the environmental effects of the gulf oil spill disaster, there are several economic ones washing ashore. Along the coast of Louisiana thousands of people in the fishing and tourism industries are suffering. Louisiana Public Broadcasting will include… Continue reading
May 14 Patchwork Nation: Obama's Differing Messages for Varied Views on Recession By Dante Chinni In the age of niche marketing there isn't much use for a standard stump speech, just ask President Obama. Over the past few months he has been roaming the country talking to crowds on what the White House calls a… Continue reading
May 13 Simon Johnson on Misleading Messages in the Fight for Financial Reform By Business Desk Paul Solman: On Thursday’s NewsHour, we speak to Simon Johnson about his new book, 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown. A great benefit of this website is that we can share intriguing… Continue reading
May 13 Senate Considers Amendments to Financial Reform Bill Over the past two days, senators have begun considering a handful of the more than 200 amendments filed to the massive financial reform bill aimed at overhauling the U.S. financial system. Already, a few key amendments have passed. Continue reading
May 13 Watch Do Obama's Financial Reforms Measure Up Against Past Attempts? In his ongoing series of reports making sense of the financial system, Paul Solman talks to author and MIT economics professor Simon Johnson about how President Obama's attempts to regulate financial firms compare to reform campaigns of past presidents. Continue watching
May 12 Is It Cheaper to Give Money Directly to Hurting Home Owners? Question: I know hindsight is 20-20, but I wonder. Would we have been better off providing mortgage payment assistance directly to the homeowners? It seems to me that the banks are really interested in conserving capital right now, so there… Continue reading
May 12 Dispatch: China's Balancing Act I spent last week in northeastern China zipping around on new superhighways, passing millions of newly planted trees, new rail lines and massive train stations, enormous shopping malls, and skyscrapers -- all amid a people working, working, working. Continue reading
May 11 Editorial Round-up: EU Rescue Plan By Larisa Epatko Now that European leaders have agreed to a 750 billion euro ($955 billion) relief plan to stem Europe's debt crisis, steps are being taken to make the money available to eurozone countries in need of the help -- and reactions… Continue reading